Undoubtedly, addiction may ruin one’s life. But there is always a way to get back to normal and regain confidence. The first step is to ask for help and enter a rehabilitation program. But the recovery process doesn’t end just there.
Rehab works great at detoxing, but long-term recovery requires will and skills to deal with struggles. Unfortunately, many addicts exit rehabilitation and experience a relapse when returning to traditional environments.
However, there is a way to fix the issue or at least reduce the chance of a relapse. Joining a sober living facility provides people with a chance to regain control of their lives. Keep reading our article to learn what is a sober living house. You will also learn more about the benefits and principles of work of such residences.
What is a Sober Living House?
A sober living house, also known as a recovery house, or a sober living environment, is a facility or a group of residences designed for people recovering from addiction. Typically, community members go through rehab then live in a transitional environment provided by sober living homes.
Members of such centers agree to lead a healthy lifestyle by avoiding substance abuse. One of the rules to live in such a facility requires undergoing random drug tests. Overall, residents of such environments are encouraged to regain control over their lives by finding a job or obtaining the skills needed for the job.
What Is the Purpose of a Sober Living Facility?
The main purpose of the sober living environment is to stay sober long-term. Rehabilitation is just a mere detoxication. But avoiding alcohol and/or drugs requires a lifetime.
Residents learn how to control their anger and deal with everyday stress. These skills help when residents return to their normal lives. Going through this transitional stage enables individuals to resist temptation in the future. The facility offers the following:
- 24/7 help from peers and experienced counselors.
- Learning (or relearning) vital skills to take care of oneself.
- Encouragement to find a job or learn skills to pursue a career.
- Support of peers to stay sober.
- Interaction with peers to learn how to build meaningful relationships.
Everything that a person learns while staying at a sober living house has to help in the future. Even when individuals face life difficulties, they will be able to control their behavior. That’s why the chance of a relapse is lower when, instead of returning to normal life, addicts apply for a sober house.
How does It Work?
Sober living houses are run by businesses. It can be one person providing a home for people recovering from addiction. Or it could be a business, a charitable organization, or any other similar organization.
Overall, the house has supervisors or managers. Such facilities do not provide medical care services, as in the case of rehabilitation centers. Residents have to pay monthly fees to stay at sober living homes. That’s one of the reasons why members are encouraged to find jobs.
Some houses host men, and some homes host only women. Residents must follow strict rules:
- No alcohol, drugs, violence, ruining other people’s property.
- Sharing in-house responsibilities.
- Participating in group meetings.
- Being active and helping the community.
- Having or seeking a job.
- Attending 12-step treatment programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous.
- Going through random drug tests.
- Following the curfew.
People can voluntarily apply to live in such residents and leave whenever they feel confident in their success.
What are the Benefits of Joining a Sober Community?
The benefits of living in a sober environment as opposed to returning to normal life are:
- avoiding temptations;
- getting the support of peers;
- getting the support of professionals (if the facility is partnered with a therapy clinic or institution providing psychological support, etc.);
- learning how to build relationships without alcohol;
- regaining control of one’s life;
- learning how to deal with problems.
Residents learn how to manage their finances, become emotionally independent from people who don’t want them to get better, and stay sober.
Sober Living House vs. Oxford House vs. Halfway House
These concepts have many similarities, so people often confuse them. Let us figure out what are the differences. The sober living house is a facility that you join by your will to learn to live in sobriety. The same rule applies when it comes to Oxford houses.
The key difference here is that Oxford houses are self-run by residents. They pay for rent bills, share responsibilities, vote for officers, and deal with problems as a group. Sober living homes are run by supervisors. Oxford houses are more independent.
Halfway house is a carceral residence. Living in a halfway house is a requirement to get released out of prison. Residents can’t leave voluntarily. However, the facility aims at correcting the behavior of inmates and helping them reenter society as healthy members of the community.